Lite Bites: What Your Favorite Chefs & Mixologists Are Up To Around Town This Week

• James Beard's newly minted Most Outstanding ChefPaul Kahan has an event coming up that you don't want to miss if you're a pork fiend. The Blackbird executive chef has teamed up with Mercat a la Planxa's Jose Garces and Cory Morris for a five-course Iberico pork dinner. Expect different preparations, including olive oil-poached pork loin, roasted pork collar and bacon-fat ganache paired with maple-sherry ice cream. It's $125 and reservations are required by calling Mercat a la Planxa. The event takes place 7pm May 18, beginning with a sangria reception.

• Jason Vincent (Nightwood), Ryan Poli (Little Market Brasserie), Chris Pandel (Balena) and brothers Michael and Patrick Sheerin (Trenchermen) are helping to raise funds for the Special Olympics Chicago during an after-work charity event. Sip & Savor is hosted by the associate board of Special Olympics Chicago and will feature food from these fine gentlemen. The event takes place 6-9pm May 9 at 1420 S. Michigan Ave. It's $55 in advance; $65 at the door. Get the tickets right here.Thomas Mooneyham's "Walking Dead" cocktail. (Photo: The Gage)

• Paul Fehribach, of the Southern-focused Big Jones, demos at Green City Market at 10:30am May 11. Perhaps he'll give some great tips if you're planning to cook on Mother's Day.

• I've pretty much given up on Three Dots and a Dash—the much-heralded tiki-inspired cocktail lounge by Paul McGee—opening anytime soon. It's still apparently recovering from that fire that happened way back in January. In the meantime, I will continue to obsess over Thomas Mooneyham's Walking Dead cocktail that pays homage to the gory AMC series as well as the classic Zombie drink. It's only available at The Gage

• Here's a GrubStreet slideshow of chefs whipping up weird ingredients at the recent Reader Key Ingredient Cook-Off.Three Aces' Matt Troost apparently had one of the most fascinating dishes of the night: Malort Face, combining the infamous cult spirit with a Girl & The Goat-style pig face testa. I wonder if he'll put that on the menu . . .

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The Dish:

Audarshia Townsend's introduction to the online world began as one of the first two editors at metromix.com--where they set the tone for the entertainment site's cutting-edge style. She also has written lifestyle features for the Chicago Tribune, Essence, Los Angeles Times, Michigan Avenue, about.com, playboy.com, Huffington Post, DiningChicago.com, World's Best Bars and Upscale magazine. Additionally, she has appeared regularly on CLTV, WGN-TV and WCIU-TV's "You & Me This Morning" for cocktail-, dining- and nightlife-related features. In 2007, Audarshia launched 312DiningDiva.com, a daily dining-and-drinking blog keeping readers up to date on Chicago happenings. Her interests include staying fit with a regular Forrest Yoga practice, cycling in the city, and Flywheel Chicago classes.